Growing Spokane, Wash., sheds its sleepy city image
Ramsey and Amy Pruchnic lived in the Seattle area for five years before deciding they wanted to escape the Puget Sound rat race and move closer to family on the opposite side of the state.
Now they own their own businesses and live in a 1928 farmhouse on 10 rural acres they bought just south of Spokane, near the Idaho border, where they are raising three children and 18 chickens.
“The honeymoon phase of Seattle wore off,” said Amy Pruchnic, 31, who just opened a specialty doughnut shop in a hip development downtown. “Why not work in a town like Spokane?”
The Pruchnics are among a wave of new residents in Washington’s second-largest city, which is experiencing a growing population thanks to more jobs and an influx of people leaving larger West Coast cities.
They included young families like the Pruchnics – many in search of cheaper housing, easier commutes, good schools and a work-life balance – and retirees with disposable income.
“We are getting both ends of the spectrum,” said Todd Mielke, chief executive of Greater Spokane Incorporated, the region’s chamber of commerce. The trend is also visible in other midsize western cities like Boise, Idaho, as people flee soaring housing costs up and down the West Coast.
Welcome SCJ Alliance
GSI is pleased to welcome SCJ Alliance to Spokane. With a multidisciplinary approach to community building solutions and designs, SCJ recently expanded their team when they brought Spokane’s Studio Cascade into their firm. The level of renewal and increased public/private investment in Spokane spurred SCJ Alliances’s interest in partnering with Studio Cascade. GSI assisted with important connections to resources in Spokane to enhance and accelerate SCJ’s welcome and onboarding.
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etailz Moved to Spokane Valley
etailz Moved to Spokane Valley
etailz moved to its new headquarters in Spokane Valley this summer. This was part of an ongoing expansion at the company founded a decade ago by two Gonzaga University students and their professor.
At 250 employees, etailz outgrew their space in the McKinstry Station in Spokane’s University District. In July the company moved into it’s new space at 2818 N. Sullivan Road. This locations is near the existing etailz warehouse.
etailz recently started a marketing agency, Marketplace Growth Partners, which serves brands that want to grow their sales on Amazon, Jet, eBay, Walmart, and Alibaba.
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SpringHill Suites by Marriott Hotel Coming to Spokane International Airport
A 109-room, $10 million SpringHill Suites by Marriott hotel is being constructed adjacent to the terminal complex at Spokane International Airport. It will have an indoor swimming pool, outdoor patio, restaurant and parking lot. It is expected to open in late 2019. MORE